Everyone has challenges in their lives.
EVERYONE! Some just don't show it. Some people wear it like a badge. Its not a question whether or not life
will challenge you, its a question of when and are you prepared.

Mindset

Someone said, "Life
is not all sunshine and rainbows. It can be a mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are, it will beat you to
your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But
it ain't about how hard ya hit, it about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. Its about how hard
you can take a hit and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done."

Rocky Balboa

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Pretenders wish for things. Contenders expect things.

Pretenders wish for things. Contenders
expect things.

Pretenders show up on test day with out studying.
They are late constantly for the important matters in their lives. They miss appointment, fail to get things in
on time and blame everybody and everything for their shortcomings. The weather, traffic, their computer, voicemail,
and the day of the week all play a major factor in pretenders inability to meet the challenges of life. Pretenders
say they want to lose weight while eating a donut. They say they want their children to succeed yet never check homework
or attend a teacher's conference. They say they want to save money after they leave the mall with arms full of luxuries
and comforts.

Life's challenges are enemy of the pretender, instead
of teaching them to be better, life teaches them surrender and defeat.

Contenders however, are very different. The
first thing you notice about a contender is that they are prepared. They arrive early. They ask questions. They
do the homework, fieldwork whatever it takes. They take pride in their work habits and their accomplishments. They stand
behind their commitments. They have a plan for life. If they want to drop a few pounds, they excercise regularly
and change their diets. They commit to helping their children succeed by checking homework, assigning them books
to read and essays to write. They show up with questions at the teacher's conference and just to discuss their child's
progress. They focus on results and not excuses. When faced with challenges of life, pretenders shrink. Contenders
grow.

Life is test of your determination to get
what you want out of life. It will present roadblocks, detours, storms and disasters to deter you from your course.

"Life challenges are not suppose
to paralyze you they are suppose to help you discover who you are"

Bernice Johnson Reagon

Your character is developed through your
struggles. Just like the butterfly must fight its way out of the cocoon in order to build the strength in its wings
to fly.

Where there is no struggle, there
is no progress.

Frederick Douglas

"The truth is our finest moments
are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy or unfulfilled. For it is only in such
moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our own ruts, and start searching for different ways
and truer answers."

Unknown

Think
about this. When obstacles appear, your goal is getting close. Will you pass the test or give up? Are you
a contender or just a pretender?

Nothing is impossible.

"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live the world they have
been given, rather than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It is an opinion. Impossible
is not a declaration. It is a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing."

John Maxwell

Obstacles are the things you see when you take your
eyes off your goals.